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155 ratings | 2 reviews | avg rating:4.05

S.A.’s Year In Books

S.A.’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at S.A.’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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S.A.’s Bookshelves

to-read (12)
currently-reading (1)
read (347)
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S.A. Black

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://sablack.substack.com/

Genre

Thriller, Suspense, Fiction

Influences

George Saunders,Stephen King ...more

Member Since

February 2025

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S. A. BLACK is an American writer, technologist, and executive. Black is the author of the novel Target Pool, a thriller with a plot centered around the surveillance economy. A lifelong writer and the author of numerous short stories, Black has also written extensive nonfiction work about advertising and technology, published in the national and advertising trade press. Black is a lover of the outdoors, travel, cooking, and a dedicated reader.

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Popular Answered Questions

If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?

S.A. Black Fiction's power lies in its ability to transport us. But many of my favorite reads describe worlds far too harsh to actually want to visit: the grim, …moreFiction's power lies in its ability to transport us. But many of my favorite reads describe worlds far too harsh to actually want to visit: the grim, beautiful and bullet-scarred landscapes of Cormac McCarthy, for example. Or the nightmare worlds of Stephen King. Would I want to be the protagonist of the Time Traveler's Wife, thrust naked into random times and places? I might pass, as much as I love the book and its premise.

Books I read at a young age occupy a disproportionate share of the places I'd actually visit if I could. The depopulated world of The Stand. The lonely wildernesses of My Side of the Mountain or Hatchet. The tropical islands of Lord of the Flies or Robinson Crusoe. The jungles of The Mosquito Coast. For favorite stories set long ago, like The Pillars of the Earth or The Count of Monte Christo, I'll take the truly fictional version, please, where the lack of sanitation or antibiotics wouldn't offend my senses or health.

But without the bad guys, pestilence, or evil spirits, what kind of story would you have to tell when you got back?(less)

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What books are on your summer reading list this year?

S.A. Black It's September as I'm writing this, so I'm going to flip this and tell you about a few books I enjoyed reading over the spring and summer this year.

I …moreIt's September as I'm writing this, so I'm going to flip this and tell you about a few books I enjoyed reading over the spring and summer this year.

I want to put in a plug for A Good Family: a novel by A. H. Kim. What I love about Kim's book is its taut, consistent pacing and gripping whodunit drama. Plus, like me, she came to fiction later in life.

I was to be completely absorbed by Joan Didion's final two books, The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights. I'm new to reading her, but someone at work gave me these and I was hooked. She crafts such compelling prose with vivid tensions between tragedy and hope, self-awareness and self-indulgence, her past and her present.(less)

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S.A. Black’s books

Average rating: 4.0 · 17 ratings · 12 reviews · 1 distinct work • Similar authors

Target Pool

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 17 ratings — 3 editions

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12 posts
S.A. Black's Blog

Substack!

So, I’ve joined the ranks and launched a Substack! There’s a bunch of content posted there already (including a chapter from my novel.Target Pool) and I’ll be sharing updates on my writing, books, short stories, and more soon. Check it out here and let me know what you think: https://sablack.substack.com

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Published on June 18, 2026 16:18 • Tags: indie-author, substack

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S.A. is Currently Reading

S.A. Black is currently reading

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)

by Jerome K. Jerome

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jul 26, 2025 08:11PM

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S.A.’s Recent Updates

S.A. Black made a comment in the group Get Reviews! — ARC Reader Call: Literary Fiction, Modern Retelling of Great Expectations topic " I’ve reached an important milestone in my next project: I’m looking for ARC readers for my upcoming novel! Are you an avid reader of upmarket or litera ...more "
Sep 15, 2026 03:26PM
S.A. Black made a comment in the group Indie Authors & Books — ARC Reader Call: Literary Fiction, Modern Retelling of Great Expectations topic " I’ve reached an important milestone in my next project: I’m looking for ARC readers for my upcoming novel! Are you an avid reader of upmarket or litera ...more "
Sep 15, 2026 03:25PM
S.A. Black made a comment in the group FREE BOOKS for Book lovers: ARC & Polished Manuscript Readers for Authors — ARC Reader Call: Literary Fiction, Modern Retelling of Great Expectations topic " I’ve reached an important milestone in my next project: I’m looking for ARC readers for my upcoming novel! Are you an avid reader of upmarket or litera ...more "
Sep 15, 2026 03:21PM
S.A. Black wrote a new blog post Substack! So, I’ve joined the ranks and launched a Substack! There’s a bunch of content posted there already (including a chapter from my novel.Target Pool) and Read more of this blog post »
Jun 18, 2026 04:18PM · like
Jan 28, 2026 07:20PM · like
S.A. Black joined the groups Indie Book Club and Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club
Nov 27, 2025 12:54PM
S.A. Black and 2 other people liked Reads_Must 's review of Notes from Star to Star: "Notes from Star to Star Sci-Fi Brian Dolan ⭐️⭐️⭐️ • ꜱᴘᴀᴄᴇ • ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛ • ᴀᴍɴᴇꜱɪᴀ • This book had an interesting premise but it felt like a lot of filler was used, for example every flavour of tea the FMC was drinking was described in detail, how each " Read more of this review »
Nov 24, 2025 05:03PM · see review
S.A. Black and 3 other people liked Bnz's review of Notes from Star to Star: "This novella starts with the almost over-exploited device of an astronaut finding themselves alone in a starship, with little or no memory of how they came into the situation, where they are going or where the others are. The "discovery" process here" Read more of this review »
Nov 24, 2025 05:03PM · see review
S.A. Black and 2 other people liked Lynxie's review of Notes from Star to Star: "This story feels like it was born from a mind that really got into the semi-recent spate of science fiction space exploration movies (Interstellar, The Martian, Gravity etc). When you enter into a story where you have a single character isolated on a" Read more of this review »
Nov 24, 2025 05:02PM · see review

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
LOTSA SPELL CHALL...: June 2025 - Celebrating 250 Years of Jane Austen / JANE BENNET	67	22	Feb 25, 2026 08:36PM

S.A.’s Quotes

“You have travelled to the stars, set foot in new worlds, and shown that beauty is universal.”
― Brian J. Dolan, Notes from Star to Star

tags: beauty, space-travel, universe

1 likes

“Earth. A blue dot suspended in space. With people and oceans and teeming cities, forests, and plains, ice at the poles on a cold year, wild and domestic animals, and some not nice stuff that wasn’t important at the moment with all the pleasant things to think about as her memory steadily, hopefully, came back.”
― Brian J. Dolan, Notes from Star to Star

tags: earth, home, space-travel

1 likes

“He said that war had destroyed the country and that men believe the cure for war is war as the curandero prescribes the serpent's flesh for its bite. He spoke of his campaigns in the deserts of Mexico and he told them of horses killed under him and he said that the souls of horses mirror the souls of men more closely than men suppose and that horses also love war. Men say they only learn this but he said that no creature can learn that which his heart has no shape to hold. His own father said that no man who has not gone to war horseback can ever truly understand the horse and he said that he supposed he wished that this were not so but that it was so.”
― Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses

19 likes

“You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.”
― Cormac McCarthy, The Road

2839 likes

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S.A.’s Groups

Techno-Thrillers — 431 members — last activity 3 hours, 0 min ago
Techno-thrillers explore emerging science, technology, or natural phenomena in stories with some thrills. Our current line-up: The genre tends t ...more

The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group — 32960 members — last activity 2 hours, 36 min ago
“It was a dark and stormy night. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled across the sky. Rain spattered a mysterious, hooded stranger who peered over the ...more

Indie Book Collective — 2956 members — last activity Oct 01, 2026 01:56AM
A group of indie authors, helping each other out and bringing new books to the world

Authors & Reviewers — 12199 members — last activity 7 hours, 4 min ago
A&R is about helping authors promote their books. If you are a reviewer or a blogger, and you don't mind writing a honest review, then come and join u ...more

FREE BOOKS for Book lovers: ARC & Polished Manuscript Readers for Authors — 8247 members — last activity 11 minutes ago
This group is designed to help Authors in the publishing process & to provide book lovers with FREE books. Readers can get their hands on polished no ...more

Amazon Kindle — 12010 members — last activity 7 hours, 31 min ago
For readers using the Amazon Kindle ebook device.

Around the Year in 52 Books — 11651 members — last activity 5 minutes ago
~ 2026 Reading Challenge ~ 52 books for 52 weeks. Each week, members read the book of their choice for that week's challenge requirement. ▶︎ CURREN ...more

Reviewers Unite: Authors and Readers Welcome — 30 members — last activity Jun 01, 2025 04:16PM
In this group, authors can share their books with fellow members, who are encouraged to read and provide honest feedback. While reviews are appreciate ...more

Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends — 7493 members — last activity 17 hours, 28 min ago
This group warmly accepts newcomers. Whereas mystery and thriller is the focus, we also love a great read, regardless of genre. Originally formed from ...more

A Good Thriller — 23185 members — last activity 0 minutes ago
We share a passion for action-packed, gripping, exciting, tense thrillers and mysteries, a genre rich with talented authors. We invite you to share yo ...more

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